Don't Mess With Her
by Sugarbubbleslove
Summary: If there anything you shouldn't do, it's mess with Maddy Shannon; you never know what kind of chain reaction you will set off. Spoiler - 'Proof'


Title: Don't Mess With Her

Characters: Alicia, Elisabeth, Jim, Maddy, Mark, Taylor with Maddy/Mark

Rating: Teen (at best)

Disclaimers: I do not own anyone/anything from the forum Terra Nova. Fox owns Terra Nova and its characters. There is no copyright infringement intended. I do not make any profit/money or take any credit.

Summary: If there anything you shouldn't do, it's mess with Maddy Shannon; you never know what kind of chain reaction you will set off.

Timeline: Spoilers for 'Proof'

A/N: Thanks to DaniWilder who wanted a 'Proof' tag fanfiction. This is what was inspired (and it just about killed me to wait until I had watched the episode myself!)

Warning: Implied Violence

Don't Mess With Her

The soldiers shifted nervously when they saw Lieutenant Alicia Washington walking toward them with a blank expression.

"Lt. Washington," one of them greeted with a tip of his head.

"Tyler, Morrison," she greeted back.

"Can we help you?" the second one asked.

"I want to you go and man the front desk while I have a chat with Horton," she informed them.

"Er…ma'am, we were told to stay here by Commander Taylor," the first one explained and she nodded.

"I know that, Tyler…but I'm over-ruling that order right now. I want to speak to him alone." She gave the soldier a meaningful glare and they nodded.

"Okay ma'am…er…let us know if you need us," Tyler told her before both soldier hurried down the hallway, wanting to get away from the woman who was currently on a war-path. They had seen her lose her temper with soldier before and they had no desire to have that happen to them.

Alicia watched them leave before she turned to the door. With a deep breath, she opened it and stepped in to the room to see the older man sitting at the table, his hands cuffed to the chain that was attached to the floor.

He looked up when heard the door opening and his light blue eyes widen when he spotted the lieutenant before him. She noticed that he was sporting a bruise on his jaw from where Jim Shannon had punched him while saving Maddy Shannon, his daughter.

"Well, what do I own the honour, Lt. Washington?" Horton asked as he eyed the woman before him. Alicia gave him a glare as she sat down on the seat across from him.

"I'm here to tell you why you made a mistake," Alicia told him. Horton frowned.

"Sorry, I think I'm a little confused here," Horton told her. "I assumed I was here because I tried to kill that stupid girl." Alicia scoffed.

"Maddy Shannon isn't stupid, she's far from it since she was the one to figure out that you killed the real Horton," Alicia reminded him, her tone hard and Horton flinched.

"But I still don't see the connection," he persisted. "She is the daughter of Jim Shannon, right? The new sheriff of Terra Nova. I don't see what she has to do with you."

"Tell me, do you know what soldier I happen to be close to?" Alicia rested her forearms on the table, her hands palm down on the metal. Horton thought about before his face twisted in annoyance.

"Reynolds, that brat that also came on the fifth Pilgrim," Horton spat out. He had never liked the kid because he was more interested in meeting Commander Taylor. "What does he have to do with anything?" Alicia arched an eyebrow.

"You haven't heard the rumours?" she asked, the fingers of her right hand tapping lightly. Horton began to grow pale as fragments of the rumours coming back to him.

"It was rumoured that he was courting the Shannon girl," Horton croaked out. He watched as Alicia rose up, her hands still resting on the table so she was looming over him.

"You mess with Maddy Shannon, you mess with Mark. You mess with Mark, you mess with me," Alicia informed him, a feral grin curving her lips.

~_DMWH_~

"I understand why you want to be there for the questioning but I really think it's not a good idea. The man did try to kill your daughter," Commander Taylor informed Jim Shannon as they made their way into the brig.

"I get your concerns but that's precisely why I want to be here. I want to make sure he can't get out and hurt her again," Jim told him. Taylor sighed, giving Jim a critical look before he nodded.

"Fine, you can come in the room…but you let me do the talking." Jim nodded, agreeing before they came to a stop when they saw two soldiers blocking the hallway that led to the brig.

"Taylor, Morrison, what are you doing out here?" Taylor asked, frowning at them in confusion. Both soldiers exchanged a look before they looked back at their Commander.

"We were ordered to stay out here," Morrison spoke up. Jim frowned.

"Why? He's in there," he gestured to the door further down the hallway and Tyler nodded.

"We know…but our orders came from Lt. Washington," he hurriedly admitted before wincing when there was another slam of flesh meeting metal.

"Oh," understanding dawned on Taylor, looking over the soldiers' shoulders in concern. "She's…she's not killing him, right?" Taylor asked.

"We don't think so, sir," Morrison told him. "We haven't heard any screaming." Jim stared at the soldiers in shocked concern.

"Should we go in?" Tyler asked, torn between hoping that Taylor would deny them or grant them access just so he could see the bastard that tried to kill his leader's girlfriend being beaten to a pulp.

"I think it would be best if were to stay out here," Taylor informed his soldier. "I would rather not be forced to arrest my second-in-command if I were to catch her doing something she shouldn't be doing."

"Er..." everyone turned to look at Jim. "Are you telling me your scared of her?" his brows furrowed when he saw all three men share a look before Taylor sighed, looking at the father.  
>"Wash has two buttons that you shouldn't press. One is me, she's prefer it if you didn't hurt me. The other is Reynolds."<p>

"I'll say," Tyler coughed when he got a glare from Morrison as a result

"What is that supposed to mean?" Jim asked, looking at the soldier. Both soldier looked at Taylor, who just crossed his arms and Tyler gulped and Morrison sighed, looking toward Jim.

"When Mark got a promotion, a soldier made a comment that if he knew if he had to sleep with Lt. Washington to get a promotion, he would have banged her the moment he arrived in Terra Nova," Morrison told them. "Lt. Washington…" he gulped at the memory. "Lt. Washington overheard this and tore strips off the guy to the point he was sobbing by the time she was finished. Then she made him have a stay in the brig for spreading rumours."

"…Oh," Jim stumbled back, his eyes widening in shock. Tyler and Morrison nodded in agreement.

"Moral of the story?" the commander spoke up and Jim looked at him. "Don't say anything bad about Reynolds and you'll be fine."

"…but I don't get why she is going after Horton," Jim admitted still confused.

"Reynolds has two berserk buttons," Tyler spoke up and Jim looked at him. "One, you don't talk trash about Lt. Washington. The other is Maddy Shannon. We learned it was better not to say a thing about your daughter. As far as Reynolds is concerned, Maddy Shannon is off limits."

"Because we respect Lt. Washington, Reynolds won't attack anyone," Morrison explained but Tyler looked at him.

"That's only because the one guy who did ended up getting knocked on his ass," Tyler reminded and remembrance flashed across the other soldier's face.

"Oh yeah, that's right," he winced. "I think that was the only time we have seen Reynolds pissed off." Jim looked between the two of them before looking at Taylor.

"I had to put Mark into the brigs for assaulting another soldier," Taylor told him. "Another soldier said something about Wash and Mark knocked him out. He refused to tell me or her why he had assaulted another soldier."

"It actually took six guys to yank Reynolds off the guy," Tyler spoke up helpfully only to get a glare from Taylor as he did. He closed his mouth and Taylor turned to Jim.

"Foster came forward and told us why and I let him out after making him promise he wouldn't do again."

"What did the guy say?" Taylor's face hardened while Morrison and Tyler took a step back.

"He said that he understood why Mark was eager to be her lapdog because he would be more than willing to nail her himself," Taylor recounted. Jim couldn't help his jaw from becoming slack and anger racing through his veins. Even though he didn't know Wash on a personal level like Taylor and Mark, he had come to respect the woman he had worked with.

"The point we are trying to make," Tyler spoke up. "You mess with Maddy and you hurt Mark. By hurting Mark through Maddy, you're messing with L.t Washington and she doesn't like that."

"O…kay," Jim drawled out before he frowned. "Maddy is really off limits?" Morrison nodded.

"Big time! No-one wants to say anything just in-case they run the risk of Reynolds taking it the wrong way. It's better to keep your mouth shut regarding your daughter and L.t Washington and we'll survive the night."

"Huh," there was another crash and Jim winced. "Are you sure we shouldn't go in there?"

"Not unless you want her to shift her wrath onto you," Taylor supplied helpfully and Jim nodded.

"Yeah, we can stay out here. That's no problem." Taylor nodded.

"Thought you would say that," Taylor said before he turned to look at the soldiers. "How long has she been in there for?"

"Nearly two hours, sir," Morrison told him.

"Ah, she'll be finished soon. If I remember correctly, she has a meeting with Malcolm in about 30 minutes and she doesn't like to be late for anything," Taylor told them.

"Good to know that she schedules things like this," Jim said; not sure if he should be worried or impressed.

"I'd be more worried about Reynolds once he finds out about your daughter being in danger," Taylor told the father. "From what Wash tells me, he is quite protective of your daughter." Jim sighed.

"I want to hate the guy for stealing my daughter but it seems like everything he says and does just makes it harder," Jim admitted to Taylor, who smiled.

"If it makes you feel any better, he learned a lot of how to respect women from Wash," Taylor told him and Jim looked at him. "She adopted him when he first came here. He was so eager to work with me that he got to Alicia and told her why he would be a good soldier." Taylor laughed. "She told him if he wanted to work for me, then he needed to prove himself to her…in a hand to hand combat."

"Really?" asked Jim, feeling a smile curve his lips. Taylor nodded, grinning.

"She came to me two days later and told me, proudly, that he had beaten her," he informed the father before shaking his head as his eyes took on a far-away look. "She was so impressed with him that she recommended him for a position as a section leader, said he would make a good leader despite his age. And she was right."

Jim was about to say something when the door opened and Alicia came out with a satisfied smile, brushing her hands together before she spun on her heels and strode toward the end of the hallway. She didn't even blink when she saw them standing there. "Ah, Wash!" Taylor greeted his second-in-command with a fond smile. "I gather everything is alright?" Alicia gave him a nod.

"Yes sir, everything is fine," she assured him. "Horton is ready for questioning. If you don't need me, I should head over to the mess hall to let them know that Horton has some allergies. We wouldn't want him dying of an allergy attack."

"I'm fine, I have Jim with me. You go ahead and let them know." They watched as Alicia nodded before leaving the room before Jim looked at Taylor, who shrugged. "I think it is better that we don't ask." Jim nodded in agreement, his eyes wide. "And on that note, let's go and see Horton now. I assume he's free for questioning."

~_DMWH_~

Jim sighed as he arrived at his front door. He rolled his shoulders, wincing at the cracks he heard. He was drained, emotionally and physically. Learning of Maddy being in danger, his baby girl, it just didn't bare thinking about. He never had to worry about Maddy so the moment Zoe had told him that Maddy had something important to tell him just sent cold fear right through him.

Seeing Horton shoving his daughter's hand into a cage, which he just knew held a dangerous creature, had spurn him on and he grabbed Horton, punching with all the strength he had. He turned around to see his beautiful daughter was still alive and unharmed…he shook his head, it had been too close and he never wanted to feel that way again.

Then just when they got settled to having their daughter back, safe and unharmed, their son came along and told them that he had been the one to break into the clinic and steal the medication, just to get his girlfriend from the future. He just didn't know how to process that at the moment.

He opened the door, stepping in only to stop when he spotted his daughter sitting sideways on the couch. She had her left elbow resting on the back of the couch, her hand in her hair while she smiled, laughing at what Mark was telling her. He was sitting next to her with her legs over his, one of his hands around one of her ankles.

Jim sighed as he watched them. Mark had shifted slightly so he was facing Maddy, his back toward the door. He reached out, stroking Maddy's cheek before Maddy removed her hand from her hair and held the hand to her face.

"I'm fine, Mark. I promise," she whispered. Mark nodded before he leaned in. Jim looked away, not wanting to see his daughter in a passionate embrace. He was about to clear his throat to alert them when he was interrupted.

"Jim?" he turned his head when he heard his wife's voice and smiled when he saw her. "What are you looking at?" she peered over his shoulder before a smile graced her lips.

"He cares about her," Jim grudgingly admitted and Elisabeth looked at him before she smiled softly, reaching up to cup her husband's cheek.

"It could be worse…she could have found someone who didn't care about her as a person," she told him and Jim blanched before he nodded. Elisabeth reached up, pressing a kiss to Jim's cheek before she rounded her husband, entering the house.

"Mom, Dad!" Maddy greeted with a bright smile. Jim watched as Mark turn around and giving them a nod.

"Mr Shannon, Mrs Shannon," Mark greeted respectfully.

"Hi sweetheart, Mark," Elisabeth greeted as she moved over to the cooker. "Will you be staying for dinner tonight?" Mark shook his head.

"Sorry, I have reports to do. I kinda neglected them when one of the Soldiers told me what happened with Maddy. I came over here the moment I found out," he explained.

"How was OTG?" Jim asked, wanting to stay away from the topic of his daughter being in danger. He could see the shadows in Mark's eyes and knew that Mark was still dealing with almost losing Maddy.

"Boring," Mark told him with a wry smile. "Apparently what they thought was a new species turned out to be a species we already knew so I had to listen to the scientists blame each other for getting their hopes up all the way home." He rolled his eyes as Jim snickered.

"I don't envy your position," Jim told him, laughing when his wife rolled her eyes at him and Maddy shaking her head in amusement.

"Yeah, until we got lost," Mark told him and Jim choked on his drink at he looked at Mark, who nodded. "One of the scientists had the map upside down so we ended up going to the other side rather than back here. That just led to them arguing even more until I threatened them with my gun to shut them up."

"What did Malcolm say?" Jim asked with a wide smile and Mark shrugged with a smirk.

"He just looked up toward heavens and asked why he had to be the leader of the science department," Mark told him, smiling as Jim snickered and Elisabeth swatted her husband with a towel.

"What?" Jim asked, giving his wife his best innocent look. "Oh come on, you have to admit that was funny. I don't think I've ever felt sorry for Malcolm as I do now."

"Jim," she warned him with her lips twitching in amusement. "Malcolm is a well-respected scientist, you should treat him better." Jim rolled his eyes.

"Once he's proven to me that he is helpful, and then I'll cut him some slack," he informed his wife, watching his daughter heading to the fridge, grabbing the juice and filling out a glass.

"Actually, he was the one who helped me with the D.N.A test I did on Horton. He was disappointed when the D.N.A matched and we thought Horton was the real one," Maddy explained, handing Mark the glass of juice before she sat down, placing her legs back over his.

"I heard that you were going to question Horton," Mark spoke up, looking toward Jim, who was staring at his daughter with a shocked look; Elisabeth just smirked when her husband looked at her. "Did it go okay?" Jim had a mysterious smile on his face as he looked back at Mark.

"Actually, it went swimmingly. He admitted to everything," Jim told them and Maddy frowned.

"But…I thought there wasn't any evidence, I mean, he burned my letter," she told him and Jim nodded.

"Yes…but before Taylor and I got to the brig, Horton was already in questioning with someone else…" Mark paled as he choked on his drink. He coughed, alarming Maddy as she reached over and patted his back.

Once he got his breathing back under control, he looked at Jim almost pleadingly.

"Are you saying it was…?" he trailed off when he saw the smirk.

"Wash?" Jim asked before he nodded, "Oh yeah." Mark winced. Elisabeth looked between the two of them before sharing a confused look with her daughter.

"Is there something you want to tell us?" Elisabeth asked. Jim grinned.

"Apparently there is a rule. You mess with Maddy Shannon, you mess with Mark Reynolds. You mess with Mark Reynolds, you mess with Alicia Washington. Wash was just let Horton know why it was a bad idea to mess with Maddy, you never know what kind of chain reaction you could set off."

The End


End file.
